CBF and the emergence Christianity movement
Last week I attended the Emergence Christianity event in Memphis featuring Phyllis Tickle, Brian McLaren, Nadia Bolz-Weber, and others. The emergent crowd is an interesting group, with lots of...
View ArticleCBF, a candle in search of darkness
Every good story needs an antagonist, a villain, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship story doesn’t have one. I was a graduate student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville when...
View ArticleHow long will women pastors be news?
It is time for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches to end the double standard of ordaining women to the ministry but refusing to allow them to serve. I am a Baptist female trying to be faithful to...
View ArticleAttracting a new generation of leaders in ministry
When I was growing up, Christian ministers were widely held in high esteem. Although a few Elmer Gantrys may have been in the mix, churches and communities generally received their ministers with...
View ArticleMom CBF, Dad SBC, I love you. Stop fighting.
Divorce hurts children. My grandparents’ divorce still hurts their children and their grandchildren to this day — even though both have been dead for years. Certainly, the pain has lessened in time,...
View ArticleCan you imagine?
“Can you imagine being in a place where you do not know how to communicate??” That is how my friend from South America began a short presentation she will be giving as a panelist for a breakout at this...
View ArticleTo discern God in the world
As social media exploded with the news of the SCOTUS’ decision, I wondered how this decision would impact the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship conference. Would the agenda change? Would speakers...
View ArticleTen reasons why I pray during Ramadan
My initial experiences with Ramadan years ago in West Africa were at times confusing to say the least. I will never forget getting caught in an awful traffic jam in the main thoroughfare of one of the...
View ArticleThe gift of a ministry of presence
It was impossible to go to all of the breakout sessions at the CBF General Assembly in June. Because of this, my wife and I chose sessions that would be most applicable to us as a pastoral couple...
View ArticleSpiritual formation: more than a buzz phrase
Two words combined to be a buzz phrase have appeared at different times and in different ways in Baptist life lately, especially at CBF General Assembly last month: Spiritual. Formation. The new...
View ArticleExperiencing koinonia — cross culturally
This could probably be two posts in the least, maybe three. But I will limit it. You see, I have experienced “koinonia.” I realize that is a thoroughly “religious” word. I realize it doesn’t mean much...
View ArticleDoes facebook reveal my compassion or my passion?
A few weeks ago, a friend challenged me about my posts on my personal facebook timeline. It seemed to this person that a lot of what I post I do so because I feel I have to. I do post a good bit that...
View ArticleIt’s embarrassing, but it doesn’t have to be (being Baptist, that is)
Hello there! I just recently realized (in the midst of writing blog after blog after endless blog) that I don’t think we’ve met before (aside of course, from you mom! I promise I’ll come get my mail...
View ArticleThe hardest job in the world
A pastor has one of the hardest jobs in the world. When I was a pastor, I was not willing to say that sentence. It seemed self-serving and whiny. I heard other people say how hard a pastor’s work is,...
View ArticleA “buyer’s market” for pastor search committees
The 21st century is proving to be a buyer’s market for many churches that are looking for a pastor. Even a tiny, troubled Baptist church can get 100 resumes from men and women looking for a church to...
View ArticleWhere’s the passion?
Recently, Brett Younger wrote an article challenging seminaries to do more for their students: Seminaries should not focus on ministers being efficient, effective and successful. The church needs...
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Top 10 things I love about church
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/ “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.” “Jesus isn’t my religion, He’s my savior.” “Why I hate religion and love Jesus.” I’ve heard all of these and more. And...
View ArticleI have moved on
My friend Marv Knox recently wrote a wise column in which he urged Baptists to move on from past bitterness through repentance and forgiveness. As Knox noted, others such as David Gushee and Mark...
View ArticleLeadership for a “Denominetwork”
Women leaders. Diversity in worship. Babies in strollers and toddlers in arms. Faithful friends. New relationships. Creative initiatives. All of these are impressions that I brought back from the...
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CBF missionaries check in from Cambodia
Editor’s note: Bill and Noy Peeler are field personnel serving in Cambodia with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. This is their latest communication from the field. To Our Parners in the Faith, Well...
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